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The creature’s ponderous bulk bore Irian to the ground beneath it. Everyone converged on the area where he disappeared. Thor was there first, his hammer chipping away at the edge of the socket to allow them to try to liberate Irian. The Prince came to ground beside him, and his fists were as effective as Thor’s hammer in liberating Irian. Hariel was still on the other side of the creature, and all he saw was the Prince pull Irian free, holding him up to inspect him for damage. Blood trickled from both sides of Irian’s mouth.

As the Prince looked at Irian, he could tell that the efeects were going to wear off. He would be in bad shape, possibly comatose for a while, but he would survive. Irian was almost as powerful as he was. He’d have to be watched, even if they were on the same side.

Elanor looked at him as well. She had never seen anything like this man, who had killed a true Harvest destroyer almost bare-handed. She had to control him. She was reaching out for his hand when the Prince’s own left hand pistoned out, striking her in the face.

“The threat is gone. Now we deal with you.”

Namid looked up. She was cradling Irian’s sword, rocking back and forth. The battle had almost been too much for her. Thor leaned on the side of the creature, breathing hard. His had was on the pocket with the remnants of the twins’ weapons. He looked over at the dynamics as well.

The Prince let Irian slump to the ground. He was still barely conscious. He turned to Elanor. “What did you think you were doing, trying to kill him like that? What is it that you want?”

Elanor smiled coldly. “The same thing all the rest of our kind want. A home. This one has these nasty bugs on it, though.” Clear blood ran down her face, turning blue as it dripped. Hariel watched rapt. He knew they were evil, but he didn’t know how evil. He couldn’t see the blood, though. She wiped her face. The nosebleed had already stopped. “You keep defending these… monkeys while we die all around you. In fact, you’ve killed a fair few of your own kind. You need to reconsider whose side you’re on.”

The Prince snorted. “This is their time. We ruined ours. If that means it’s time for us to go, then maybe we should just die.”

Elanor spat. “I’m perfectly content with life right now. If you’re not, you broken-down hack, well that’s you. But I will do whatever necessary to protect myself. Anything.”

“You mean like undermine your own father?”

Elanor saw Hariel. The look she shot him was pleading, imploring him to help, and promising a reward if he did so. He was moving around and over the corpse to rejoin the group. He picked up his blade from the forearm of the creature as he did.

“Well, father, I’m interested in other things. I’m not sure that I want to kill all the monkey people. They’re fun in bed.” He winced as she said it. She continued. “But how far would I go to stop you?” She raised her voice as she spoke, her eyes darting back and forth between the Prince’s and Hariel’s. He understood what she wanted. “This far.”

The last thing that went through the Prince’s mind was the blade of Hariel as he split his skull, the momentum carrying all the way through the body and burying the blade in the ground. Elanor bent and picked up her father’s scythe. “Here. Get me out of here.”